*POWER* Conferences

[laxdad1434]

You mean the Kean team that beat Stockton, at Stockton, in the conference semis last season...that Kean?

None of the bottom 4 will be better then the top 2 anytime soon. But, having those teams in the conference adds a lot of cred to these programs and has already helped with recruiting and transfers. Players want to play the best, and CNU/Salisbury are the best. Hopefully the CLC stays intact, and possibly add some teams.

Yes, regular season Kean lost every conference game which put them at the bottom of the table. But I absolutely agree that I hope the conference sticks around, and I agree I would love to see a SMCM type of school join the conference, unlikely but it would help renew some rivalries.

[ODACtionEmpire]

Impossible for me to not comment on this.

The ODAC has been a powerhouse for years. Teams in the NESCAC and Liberty are definitely battle tested more over the course of the season, but towards the time of the ODAC tournament, the top 4 teams are challenging each other to be at their best for May.

W&L really rose to the occasion in '23 to compete against some really good teams. Beat LYN in ODAC finals, dominated Centre and then had to fend off a really good GC team in order to really compete against the eventual NC.

LYN is always going to be ready for May, and they have set the standard for the ODAC over the last 4-5 years. They also have the only NC appearance for the ODAC since Noke in '92.

Speaking of, Noke snuck into the tournament in '22 and didn't have a great showing, but neither did any of the ODAC teams for that matter.

However you want to look at it, there will always be an ODAC team ready to push into May, and no team really wants to go against the ODAC because of how difficult it makes day 2 if you win. Recall LYN losing to CNU in '21 and then CNU having literally no gas to compete with Salisbury the next day - same scenario for Cabrini after W&L in '22. #ODACTION

[Laxdds]

As an alumni and fan of the Centennial Conference (although it wasn't the Centennial back in my Day but included Gettysburg, F&M, Dickinson, Muhlenberg and McDaniel) I certainly think the CC is a Power Conference...However, can you be considered a Power Conference having never won a national championship and only putting one of those teams, Gettysburg, in the championship game 3 times? I'm not counting the glory years of Washington, although we played them they weren't in the conference.

Why would you not count Washington College? They are in the Centennial Conference.

Only because when Washington College was a national power 70's thru mid 80's they were not in the Centennial Conference.

[westernbestern]

As an alumni and fan of the Centennial Conference (although it wasn't the Centennial back in my Day but included Gettysburg, F&M, Dickinson, Muhlenberg and McDaniel) I certainly think the CC is a Power Conference...However, can you be considered a Power Conference having never won a national championship and only putting one of those teams, Gettysburg, in the championship game 3 times? I'm not counting the glory years of Washington, although we played them they weren't in the conference.

Why would you not count Washington College? They are in the Centennial Conference.

Only because when Washington College was a national power 70's thru mid 80's they were not in the Centennial Conference.

*70's thru mid 80's thru late 80's thru 90's to early 2000's

[RE6ULATOR]

As an alumni and fan of the Centennial Conference (although it wasn't the Centennial back in my Day but included Gettysburg, F&M, Dickinson, Muhlenberg and McDaniel) I certainly think the CC is a Power Conference...However, can you be considered a Power Conference having never won a national championship and only putting one of those teams, Gettysburg, in the championship game 3 times? I'm not counting the glory years of Washington, although we played them they weren't in the conference.

Why would you not count Washington College? They are in the Centennial Conference.

Only because when Washington College was a national power 70's thru mid 80's they were not in the Centennial Conference.

*70's thru mid 80's thru late 80's thru 90's to early 2000's

Yea, didn’t they win a NC somewhere in those later years lol

Fun topic, I will say though, that I need to see one of the more recently ranked Centennials have some staying power before I view them as anything more than all those other conferences that have 2 ranked teams. (ODAC, MAC Commonwealth, CLC). 2 is seemingly common, 3 is rare. Liberty has 4 and Ithaca is in my opinion a sleeping giant that could flip the switch at any moment. NESCAC has 5 and potentially 6 if Wesleyan rebounds from an off year in 2023.

Two power conferences. Any others being debated are debatable, which makes them not definitive…

[D3LaxFan2]

Only because when Washington College was a national power 70's thru mid 80's they were not in the Centennial Conference.

They won the national championship in 1998 and were a top team for most of the early 2000s. Not much lately though, for sure. Would they even beat Kean these days?

[Laxdds]

Only because when Washington College was a national power 70's thru mid 80's they were not in the Centennial Conference.

They won the national championship in 1998 and were a top team for most of the early 2000s. Not much lately though, for sure. Would they even beat Kean these days?

Yep totally my bad on the 1998 championship!! I was mainly referring to the years when Washington was playing and beating D1 teams mid seventies, they have traditionally been a D3 national power, the past several years have been tough, but I expect them back in the top 20 soon. So that gives the CC 1 national championship.

[Slim]

WC won it in '98 after years of being the runner-up to Hobart in '80s ('82, '84, '85, '86) and Naz in the '90s ('96, '97).

Still remember the Shoremen beating Navy in Chestertown in '82...their coach went on to be the Navy coach the following year.

[ICGrad]

The NESCAC and Liberty both have about 11 teams in their conferences. In conferences with that many teams, I would say that those two stand alone.

Liberty League has 8 teams, so I would say they're pretty comparable to a 6-team conference.

With RIT, Union, RPI, St. Lawrence, and (sometimes) Ithaca and Clarkson making semi-regular appearances in the top 20, I'd say that's a pretty deep league.

EDIT: They did have 9 teams, but Bard dropped lacrosse several years ago.

[Laxaholic123]

The NESCAC and Liberty both have about 11 teams in their conferences. In conferences with that many teams, I would say that those two stand alone.

Liberty League has 8 teams, so I would say they're pretty comparable to a 6-team conference.

With RIT, Union, RPI, St. Lawrence, and (sometimes) Ithaca and Clarkson making semi-regular appearances in the top 20, I'd say that's a pretty deep league.

EDIT: They did have 9 teams, but Bard dropped lacrosse several years ago.

Thank you for the correction, I thought U of Rochester and Bard may have had teams when I made the post.

[DeepPocket]

Interesting read on a few “Mid-major” DIII lacrosse programs. Love seeing the application of mainstream college sports terminology to DIII lacrosse.

https://www.div3lax.com/nov-27_mid-majo ... watch.html

[SixBySix]

Alright, the heat map is back! Found a way to streamline the process so this was much quicker than previous iterations.

Screenshot 2023-12-17 020049.png (207.88 KiB) Viewed 761 times

FWIW a top 40 team will be in the 90s; Roanoke just made that cut, Kenyon just missed. Now is Roanoke really a "decent team" and Kenyon not? Of course not, but you have to draw a line somewhere and it just so happened that at the end of the year there were 40 teams above 90 in the ratings. There will be winners and losers if you set that cut-off higher or lower, but I think 40 is a pretty good estimate of the decently competitive teams in an average year, and the heat map is particularly good for giving a better picture than a strict cut-off anyway.

Top 40 by Conference:
NESCAC: 9
Centennial: 7
Liberty: 7
ODAC: 4
CLC: 3
SUNYAC: 2
NEWMAC: 2
MAC-C: 2
E8: 1
MAC-F: 1
Cabrini and Friends: 1
NCAC: 1

Pretty similar trends to the midseason, and generally aligns well with the general consensus. A couple of thoughts:
-Fairly clearly can say that there is 1a) NESCAC, 1b) Liberty and Centennial, and where you put the CLC depends on how you feel about small, top-heavy conferences
-It's harder to make the case that the ODAC fits either in overall depth or number of "decent" teams, and was much more similar to the MAC-C or NCAC than the Centennial or Liberty
-NEWMAC gets overlooked
-E8 and Landmark are two almost perfect splits down the middle with one half very competitive and the other, not so much

[DeepPocket]

…

I appreciate your work.

[Leonard Washington]

…

I appreciate your work.

+1

[Laxaholic123]

You're absolutely right about the NEWMAC being overlooked. Not sure if they were even mentioned in the running for top conference until this post. Thanks for the work that went into this!

[laxdad1434]

You're absolutely right about the NEWMAC being overlooked. Not sure if they were even mentioned in the running for top conference until this post. Thanks for the work that went into this!

Huh...This NEWMAC? Besides Babson, who do they ave?

https://newmacsports.com/standings.aspx?standings=270

[Leonard Washington]

NEWMAC can throw Babson (Trinity, WNEC, Williams), Coast Guard (Grove City, RPI, WNEC), MIT (Hamilton, RPI, Trinity) and Springfield (Amherst, Endicott , Nazareth) at almost any team and they will be solid and compete.

[Unknown Participant]

NEWMAC can throw Babson (Trinity, WNEC, Williams), Coast Guard (Grove City, RPI, WNEC), MIT (Hamilton, RPI, Trinity) and Springfield (Amherst, Endicott , Nazareth) at almost any team and they will be solid and compete.

I'll give you Babson. Springfield and MIT not so much.

[Leonard Washington]

I'll give you Babson. Springfield and MIT not so much.

Is that because you are going by box scores of certain teams or have you watched them more than a few times since Covid?

[Unknown Participant]

I'll give you Babson. Springfield and MIT not so much.

Is that because you are going by box scores of certain teams or have you watched them more than a few times since Covid?

Seen Tufts v Springfield 3x (ex 2021) over the last 4 years. They play every year in the Lax for Lindsey game in honor of the Sprinfield coach's deceased daughter. Two blow outs with one kind'a close at the half, and then Tufts ran away. MIT and Tufts scrimmaged in 2020. MIT could not get the ball into the restraining box on offense, and resorted to having a dmid stand at the end line so that MIT could get possession on a missed Tufts' shot. So MIT played 5v6 above GLE. I saw that once in HS ball so I recognized it. The other parents were befuddled. I realize that MIT had a big time transfer over the last couple that changed the dynamic, but assume back to the norm this year and beyond.